New on Netflix, Amazon Prime and other streaming week of Jan. 4

Start 2019 with some of the best films of last year. “Leave No Trace” (2018, PG), inspired by a true story and shot in and around Portland, Oregon, is a touching indie drama starring Ben Foster as a troubled military vet and loving single father trying to raise a daughter (Thomasin McKenzie in a revelatory performance) off the grid. It’s won numerous awards and is a favorite going into Oscar season. Now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

Regina Hall earned a Film Independent Spirit Award nomination for her performance as a protective manager in “Support the Girls” (2018), a smart indie comedy about the women working in a Hooters-like sports bar. On Hulu.

Netflix released “Black Mirror: Bandersnatch” (2018, not rated), a feature-length episode of the dark science fiction series presented as a video game-like interactive experience, without advance notice last week. There are dozens of choices and multiple endings but, due to technical requirements, it is not available on all devices (notably Apple TV and Google Chromecast).

Classic pick: Marilyn Monroe is the bubbly gold digger dance partner to wry, man-hungry Jane Russell in “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” (1953), Howard Hawks’ twist on buddy film machismo. It’s a delightful, hilarious farce with great musical numbers, but for all the sexual humor, these two little girls from Little Rock are thoroughly loyal to each other and always in charge. On Hulu.

Pay-Per-View / Video on Demand

Jeff Bridges, Cynthia Erivo, Jon Hamm, and Chris Hemsworth hit “Bad Times at the El Royale” (2018, R) in the thriller set at a run-down Lake Tahoe hotel.

Neil Patrick Harris is back as Count Olaf in the third and final season of “A Series of Unfortunate Events,” based on the playfully macabre children’s books by Lemony Snicket (aka Daniel Handler).

King Arthur and a band of dotty knights run afoul of abusive Frenchmen, sex-crazed nuns, a killer rabbit, the mysterious Knights Who Say “Nih!,” and other medieval threats in “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” (1975, PG), the cheapest Arthurian adventure ever made and easily the funniest.

“Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers” (1912-1923) presents a collection of 17 shorts and features from women filmmakers in the silent era. Among the landmarks are Lois Weber’s innovative short thriller “Suspense” (1913) and birth control drama “Where Are My Children” (1916);

Terry Gilliam’s “Brazil” (1985, R), a dark, dense science fiction fantasy, is like “1984” rewritten by Monty Python, an absurdist nightmare of Kafka-esque dimensions. In other words, as timely as ever.

Johnny Depp is the voice of “Sherlock Gnomes” (2018, PG) in the animated comedy set in the world of living garden gnomes (Prime Video and Hulu).

Hulu

Roman Polanski’s “Chinatown” (1974, R), starring Jack Nicholson as private eye J.J. Gittes and Faye Dunaway as a tragic femme fatale in 1930s Los Angeles, is a neo-noir classic and one of the masterpieces of American cinema.

Foreign affairs: “Renoir” (France, 2013, R, with subtitles) stars Michel Bouquet as the legendary painter Auguste Renoir and “The German Doctor” (Argentina, 2013, not rated, with subtitles) is a drama about Josef Mengele in hiding in Argentina.

Kid stuff: Mike Myers is a grumpy ogre in the animated comedy “Shrek” (2001, PG) with Eddie Murphy and Cameron Diaz. Also new:

escape comedy “Chicken Run” (2000, G) from the creators of “Wallace and Gromit”;

Available Saturday is “Annihilation” (2018, R) with Natalie Portman as a Special Forces soldier who joins a team of women scientists to investigate an alien force field slowly growing on Earth. This science fiction thriller from “Ex Machina” filmmaker Alex Garland favors science and mystery over action.

HBO Now

Melissa McCarthy is a divorced mother who goes back to college in the comedy “Life of the Party” (2018, PG-13).

Gerard Butler and 50 Cent star in the heist thriller “Den of Thieves” (2018, R), now on Showtime.

The French drama “Chefs: Season 1” (France, with subtitles) follows an ex-con who finds a new life working in the kitchen of a gourmet restaurant in Paris. Now on MHz, with the second season arriving later in January.

Sofia Vergara presents “365 Days of Love,” a new series about real-life love stories with a new episode premiering on Facebook Watch every day of 2019.

New on disc this week:

“Bad Times at the El Royale,” “Night School,” “A.X.L,” “Trouble”

Now available at Redbox:

“A.X.L,” True Detective: Season 1,” “True Detective: Season 2”

Visit the paper’s website online for more options and recommendations.